Contents

Get in

Buses leave Santa Elena many times a day, passing by Montanita. From Montañita, the bus ride takes 2 hours and costs $2.50. Some of the buses don't have storage underneath, be prepared to put your pack in the front of the bus or on your lap.

Buses leave Puerto Lopez every day. You can take a 4 hour bus ($4) to Guayaquil by way of Jipijapa which runs at 7AM, 9AM, 1PM, and 4PM.

From Quito Reina del Camino and Carlos Aray are the two buslines providing direct service. As of 09/13/2011 you could take Reina del Camino from Quito's center (thus avoiding the long journey out to the Quitumbe terminal) at 8:30 PM for $13. Their office/terminal in the center is at 18 de Septiembre and Manuel Larrea, a short cab ride from the Mariscal district.

Get around

You can walk everywhere in Puerto Lopez.

The form of public transportation are taximotos and should not cost more than $1 to get around town.

See

Each morning, around 6:00-7:30 the day's fishing catch is brought in the beach. A mad rush ensues with best catches being bought and carted away quite quickly. You can see sharks, swordfish, wahoo (from the tuna family), and more. Apart from fish, you will see at least frigate birds and pelicans trying to get their share of the catch.

Do

Horseback riding. You can join a horse (or mule) tour in the nature park. Most of the agencies in town should offer these tours when asked.$40 for a full day.

Several tour agents organise trips to the Poor Man's Galapagos: Isla la Plata (around $30 not including park fees, 1 1/2 hours boat ride). On the island you will be able to see plenty of blue and red footed boobies, frigate birds, sea turtles, and if you're lucky, sea lions. The tour is combined with whale watching trips, if it's the right season. The humpbackwhale season is from June to September. Diving is also possible.

Buy

Eat

The Whale Café offers delicious pizzas made with homemade bread, along with dishes from all over the world from $5-$10. Cheaper cuisine can be purchased from food carts a few blocks east of the shore -- 35-cent empanadas, for example. The shoreline is lined with restaurants which mostly serve seafood and range in price from $3.50-$10. There are also three Italian restaurants in town. Finally, one can purchase ceviche and sometimes sandwiches from the cabañas on the shore.

Etnias Cafe, main street near the malecon (next door to fire station). 8am to 7pm. Lovely little cafe run by a French couple -- offers waffles, crepes, espresso, cappuccino, and great cakes and deserts. Very nice people that run the shop, who speak english and spanish as well as french. Free wifi.$1-4.

Drink

You can sit outside at one of the restaurants and drink, or you can go to one of the cabañas, which blast salsa music and reggae throughout the evenings. Fruity drinks cost between $3 and $5, while the local beer of choice, PIlsener, goes for $1.25 for 600ml.

Sleep

Sol Inn, Juan Montalval near Elroy Alfaro offers nicely decorated rooms in bamboo structures. Rooms have fan and mosquito nets. It has outdoor kitchen with common area. Gorgeous gardens and hammocks make for a great atmosphere. Hot showers depend on the electricity supply in the village. Doubles cost $6-8 per person depending on the season. Includes wifi.

Hostal Itapoa, on the north end of the Malecon offers nice clean cabanas with hot water. Rooms have fans and mosquito nets. No WiFi, but internet is available through ethernet cable. A private room with a private bathroom is $10.00 a person. If there is no hot water, ask the owner Maria (speaks English/Spanish/Portuguese) to turn it on. Price includes a nice breakfast (eggs, croissants, fruit juice/coffee/tea) in the cabana overlooking the ocean. For anything else a menu for breakfast is available. Tours to Las Isla de la Plata can be booked through her at no extra cost.

Hosteria Mandála, (In the north end of the beach), ☎+593 5 2300 181/+593 9 9513 940, [1]. checkout: 12:00. Quite a special hostel with a big garden and very large cabins for rooms. The Italian owner is strongly influenced by the Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala and you can see this by the abundance of plywood art. The hostel also has hammocks by the beach, a nice restaurant, plenty of board games and an extensive book exchange.From $30.

Playa Sur, North end of the beach (Follow the road along the beach north.). checkout: 12. Super friendly hosts, very clean well maintained rooms with good mosquito nets, For $8 you get your own bathroom with hot water and fan, for $5 you get your own room with a common bathroom with cold water. Across the road is the beach and its a 5 minute walk or 50 cent taxi to the town centre.5-8 US$.

Machalilla Hostal, Juan Montalvo y Lascano (one block from the beach on the north end), ☎230-0155. checkout: 12pm. Nice bright rooms with private bathrooms, high cielings, cieling fans, mosquito nets and TVs. Also has a nice central courtyard with hammocks and a patio up top with several tables with sun umbrellas. $7.

Get out

Puerto López is the closest village to Parque Nacional Machilalla. The park headquarter is one block behind the plaza in Pto López and also features a small museum. The entrance for foreigners to the park is $20 if you visit both the mainland area and the island. If you only want to visit the mainland the entrance is $12 and for the island it's $15. Access to Playa los Frailes requires purchase of mainland park entrance and is good for 5 days.

The serene Playa Los Frailes is located 10Km north of Puerto Lopez inside Machalilla National Park. You can take a mototaxi there for around 6$ round-trip. You need a pass to the National Park and it can be bought at the entrance gate for 15$ if you don't already have one.

Agua Blanca is a small village and archaeological site of the Manteño people. It's named after a pre-incan sulphur-water pool in the village.

Salango Museum Pre-Columbian Archaeological Museum Salango Commune is the first insitu Museum of Ecuador, has an extraordinary collection of original and authentic pottery, shell spondyllus, reflecting the worldview, social structure, and the pottery of the prehistoric people of the current territory Ecuador.